Tag Archives: Rhubarb Torte

Rhubarb Custard Torte

Slice of Rhubarb Custard Torte on white plate
Rhubarb Custard Torte

Rhubarb Custard Torte is one of my all-time favorite desserts and it is simply sublime!  While I freeze a substantial amount for use over the winter, there is nothing like scooting out to the garden to pick some fresh rhubarb just at the time I am making a recipe. However, our rhubarb season here in Atlantic Canada is all too short so most of my rhubarb recipes, including this torte, can be made with frozen rhubarb.

My family has been making this recipe for as long as I can remember.  It’s not overly difficult to make but it does take time since there are three stages to it:  1) the shortbread base; 2) the rhubarb custard filling; and 3) the meringue.

The most tricky part is making the rhubarb custard and ensuring it doesn’t scorch while it is cooking and thickening.  To ensure this doesn’t happen, cook it at medium-low temperature and stir it constantly.  Some other tips when making this recipe are, first, don’t overbake the base as it will become hard and somewhat tough.  And, second, add the sugar slowly, a tablespoon at a time while continuing to beat the eggs.

I love the rich, ruby red color of the rhubarb!  Use the brightest red rhubarb you can find as it will give great color to your torte.

Rhubarb Custard Torte

Shortbread Base:
½ cup butter, softened at room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch salt
2 tbsp sugar

Cream butter. Mix in flour, salt, and sugar.

Lightly grease 8”x8” pan and press shortbread mixture evenly into pan.

Bake in 325ºF oven for 22-25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on rack while preparing filling.

Custard Filling:
1¼ cups sugar
3½ tbsp all-purpose flour
½ cup whole milk, evaporated milk, or blend
3 large egg yolks
2¼ cups chopped rhubarb, chopped into 1/2″ pieces.

In medium-sized saucepan, combine the sugar and flour. Blend in the milk. Whisk in the egg yolks. Over medium-low heat, cook mixture just until hot (not boiling), stirring constantly. Add the rhubarb. Continue to cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly to prevent scorching, until mixture thickens and rhubarb is softened.

Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 400F. Spread rhubarb custard over cooled shortbread base.

Meringue:
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
¼ cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla

Place the egg whites and cream of tarter in bowl of stand mixer and beat on high speed until eggs are foamy.  Gradually add the ¼ cup white sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and beat on high speed until soft peaks form. Beat in the vanilla just to blend.

Spread meringue evenly over rhubarb custard, ensuring custard is completely covered to the pan edges.

Bake for 5-6 minutes, or just until meringue starts to brown.

Cool completely before serving.

Yield: 9 servings

Close-up of rhubarb custard torte
Rhubarb Custard Torte

Enjoy with a fine cup of coffee or tea.

Slice of Rhubarb Custard Torte on white plate
Rhubarb Custard Torte

 

For other great rhubarb dessert recipes from My Island Bistro Kitchen, click on the links below:

Rhubarb Pudding Cake
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Rhubarb Pie

Rhubarb Custard Torte

Delightful dessert featuring shortbread base covered with a cooked rhubarb custard and topped with a meringue.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Canadian
Keyword torte, rhubarb, rhubarb torte
Servings 9
My Island Bistro Kitchen My Island Bistro Kitchen

Ingredients

Shortbread Base:

  • ½ cup butter, softened at room temperature
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • Pinch salt
  • 2 tbsp sugar

Custard Filling:

  • cups sugar
  • tbsp all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup whole milk, evaporated milk, or blend
  • 3 large egg yolks (reserve whites for the meringue)
  • cups rhubarb, chopped into ½” pieces

Meringue:

  • 3 egg whites
  • ¼ tsp cream of tartar
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ¾ tsp vanilla

Instructions

Shortbread Base:

  1. Cream butter. Mix in flour, salt, and sugar.
  2. Lightly grease 8”x8” pan and press shortbread mixture evenly into pan. Bake in 325ºF oven for 22-25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on rack while preparing filling.

Custard Filling:

  1. In medium-sized saucepan, combine the sugar and flour. Blend in the milk. Whisk in the egg yolks. Over medium-low heat, cook mixture just until hot (not boiling), stirring constantly. Add the rhubarb. Continue to cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly to prevent scorching, until mixture thickens and rhubarb is softened. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
  2. Preheat oven to 400°Spread cooled rhubarb custard over cooled shortbread base.

Meringue:

  1. Place the egg whites and cream of tarter in bowl of stand mixer and beat on high speed until eggs are foamy. Gradually add the ¼ cup white sugar, one tablespoon at a time, beating on high speed until soft peaks form. Beat in the vanilla just to blend. Spread meringue evenly over rhubarb custard, ensuring custard is completely covered to the pan edges. Bake for 5-6 minutes, or just until meringue starts to brown.
  2. Cool completely before serving.

Recipe Notes

Yield: 9 servings

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Rhubarb Custard Torte
Rhubarb Custard Torte

 

 

Lady’s Slipper Afternoon Tea

Lady's Slipper - The Provincial Flower of Prince Edward Island
Lady’s Slipper – The Provincial Flower of Prince Edward Island

June brings a plethora of flowers to bloom on Prince Edward Island.  None are more exquisite than the Lady’s Slipper, so named because its petals form a shape that resembles a slipper.  This member of the orchid family blooms on the Island in late May – June in moist, wooded areas, often under spruce, beechwood, or pine trees.

The Lady’s Slipper was adopted as the Island’s provincial flower on April 24, 1947.

If you come across these beautiful orchids that bloom in both pink and white in PEI, please just admire and enjoy them in their natural surroundings or take some photographs of them.  Please do not pick these natural flowers as that will affect their seed for continued growth on the Island.  They also do not transplant well and generally do not survive outside their natural habitat.  All the more reason why they should just be enjoyed where they are found.

The close-up photograph below shows the petals of the Lady’s Slipper.  I think the shape resembles an animal of some sort!

A few months ago, at a flea market, I came across a lovely plate with the Lady’s Slipper on it.  It is by Royal Adderley of England.  I bought the cake plate and moved along a few tables where I discovered a matching cup and saucer from a different vendor.  Of course, those purchases set my mind to thinking about an afternoon tea featuring the Lady’s Slipper china.

For the menu, I wanted to also feature some local, seasonal food product.  Rhubarb is still available on the Island so my choice was to start with a refreshing Rhubarb Cordial and serve a Rhubarb Torte with a good quality Assam tea.

Rhubarb Cordial
Rhubarb Cordial

Rhubarb Cordial makes a wonderful, refreshing drink on a hot summer’s day.  I garnished the drink with a wedge of watermelon, a sprig of mint from our herb garden, and a tiny pansy.

The “pièce de résistance” is the luscious Rhubarb Torte.  Our rhubarb season will soon be drawing to a close but I just had to have one more rhubarb dessert before that happens.  Of course, I have bags of it stored away in my freezer to enjoy throughout the year.

Rhubarb Torte
Rhubarb Torte

This torte features a graham wafer crumb base, followed by rhubarb sauce, smothered in whipped cream and marshmallows, and topped with vanilla pudding.  It’s as showy and colorful as it is tasty!  I love how the pudding on top looks translucent.

These tiny shortbread cookies, decorated in pink, just seemed the fitting addition for the Lady’s Slipper plate.

The photo below shows the detail in the plate design.

And the matching cup and saucer is filled with Assam tea.

The Rhubarb Cordial and the Rhubarb Torte make for a colorful tea table!

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